Webinar Recap: PreK, Policy, And Prevention

February 22, 2016

THE HONORABLE DR. ROBERT PASTERNACK DISCUSSES EFFECTIVE PREK MODELS FOR REDUCING SPECIAL EDUCATION PLACEMENTS

Universal PreK and Early Childhood Education continue to be hot ticket items for the Obama Administration in its final year and in the upcoming presidential elections. But what do effective PreK models look like? How has new legislation, particularly ESSA, changed the conversation about Early Childhood Education? And what does an emphasis on ECE and PreK in particular have to do with addressing the achievement gap for students with disabilities?

To address some of these issues and discuss the importance of PreK for students with disabilities, we invited the Honorable Dr. Robert Pasternack to join us for a webinar entitled “PreK, Policy, and Prevention: How High Quality PreK can Have a Profound Impact on the Lives of Students with Disabilities.”

If you were unable to join us, no worries. A recording of the webinar and the presentation are available for download, as well as this useful synopsis of what we discussed.

IDEA: Past And Future

Dr. Pasternack kicked off the conversation with a brief history of IDEA and the promises the law makes to students with disabilities, acknowledging that while the country has done an excellent job ensuring students with disabilities have access to a free and appropriate education (more than 6.7 million students are receiving special education services, 57 percent of whom are educated in general education classrooms for at least 80 percent of the day), we have not done a good job of ensuring that this education is high quality and effective. PreK, Dr. Pasternack believes, is where we will get the greatest bang for our buck when it comes to improving quality and closing the achievement gap for students with disabilities.

Pre-Literacy As Prevention

One of the key focuses of the presentation was on the importance of pre literacy in early childhood education. The number one reason students are referred to special education is due to difficulty reading and the most accurate predictor of 9th grade reading scores continues to be a child’s vocabulary and knowledge of the alphabet in kindergarten. If all children have access to high quality PreK programs in which literacy is a top priority, our students will be better prepared for school, be less likely to struggle in reading, and less likely to be referred to special education.

Effective PreK Program Models

Dr. Pasternack then discussed current policy and funding streams available for improving PreK programs, taking a close look at ESSA and its $250 million Preschool Development Grant, which focuses on providing high quality PreK to students from low-income or vulnerable backgrounds, before moving onto a discussion about specific program models.

One such model is a model known as Pay for Success, also known as Social Impact Bonds, in which private investors invest in public programs, such as PreK, and are repaid by the government if goals are met and programs are successful. Using the Pay for Success model, Granite School District in Salt Lake City, Utah, implemented a half day PreK program for 3 and 4 year olds most affected by poverty with extraordinary results. After 9 years, the program was able to boast a $3 million cost savings and lower the special education referral rate from 30 to 1 percent.

Dr. Pasternack closed the webinar with a review of the hallmarks of a high quality PreK program that will create sustained gains. Quality preschool programs have common characteristics, including:

• Clear expectations and goals
• Leadership and support
• Classroom management
• Proven effective curriculum
• Evidence-based teaching/practice
• Progress monitoring
• Closed achievement gaps and sustained gains

To learn more about the topic, watch Dr. Pasternack’s presentation or view the slides below.